Michael Stravato for The New York Times
Participants singing and praying inside “The Response,” a national day of prayer called for by Texas Gov. Rick Perry at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Saturday.
1:20 p.m. | Updated HOUSTON — Standing on a stage surrounded by more than 30,000 Christians on Saturday morning, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas called on Jesus Christ to bless and guide the nation’s military and political leaders and “those who cannot see the light in the midst of all the darkness,” in a brief but rousing sermon-style spiritual address at the controversial prayer rally that he sponsored at the same time that he is weighing whether to run for president.

“Lord, you are the source of every good thing,” Mr. Perry said, as he bowed his head, closed his eyes and leaned into a microphone at Reliant Stadium. “You are our only hope and we stand before you today in awe of your power and in gratitude for your blessings, and humility for our sins. Father, our heart breaks for America. We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us and for that we cry out for your forgiveness.”

Mr. Perry read several passages from the Bible, as thousands of people stood on their feet or knelt in the aisles or on the concrete floor in front of the stage, some wiping tears from their eyes and some shouting “Amen!”

A lifelong Methodist who regularly attends an evangelical megachurch near his home in West Austin, Mr. Perry has been speaking and preaching in the sanctuaries of churches throughout Texas since he was state agricultural commissioner in the 1990s. In his address at Reliant Stadium on Saturday, he appeared calm, confident and unapologetically Christian. “Like all of you, I love this country deeply,” he told the crowd. “Thank you all for being here. Indeed, the only thing that you love more is the living Christ.”

Before the rally started, thousands of men, women and children listened to Christian-themed singers and music groups at the stadium.

At about 9 a.m., an hour before the program was scheduled to start, the stadium, with a seating capacity of 71,500, had tens of thousands of empty seats, particularly in the upper decks. By 10 a.m, organizers estimated that about 20,000 people were in attendance. By the time Mr. Perry took the stage at about 11:30 a.m., they said there were more than 30,000 in the stadium.

The event, a day of prayer and fasting called “The Response,” was created and promoted by Mr. Perry who said that he wanted people of all faiths to attend. But Christianity dominated the tone of the prayer service and the religious affiliations of the crowd. The event is shaping up to be one of the biggest tests of Mr. Perry’s political career, coming on the cusp of his decision about whether to seek the Republican nomination for president.

At about 10 a.m., Luis Cataldo took the stage to give opening remarks.

“I wish you could see what I see here,” said Mr. Cataldo, a leader of the International House of Prayer, a Christian ministry in Kansas City, Mo. “This is the body of Christ.”

Mr. Cataldo said that there would be no long speeches, no banners and no signs. “You didn’t come here to listen to people preach,” he told the crowd. “You came to pray, and Jesus wants to hear your voice.”

Outside the stadium, more than 150 people gathered in small groups along the sidewalks to protest Mr. Perry’s involvement in the event and his support of the American Family Association, the primary organizer behind the prayer rally. The association is a conservative evangelical group based in Mississippi that condemns homosexuality and is listed as an antigay hate group by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center.

In addition to Mr. Perry, several influential Christian conservatives were scheduled to either lead prayers or read from the Bible, including Dr. James C. Dobson, a psychologist who founded Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council in Washington; and Dr. Richard Land, the conservative president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Mr. Perry came up with the idea for the event in December but did not make an announcement about it until June. In letters to his fellow governors and in other statements, Mr. Perry used Bible verses to describe the rally’s purpose: He wanted to humbly ask God to intervene on behalf of the troubled nation, to provide spiritual solutions to the country’s problems and to bless and transform the lives of Americans. The governor repeatedly stressed that the gathering would be apolitical and “open to any member of the public who wants to join with us in prayer,” as his letter to Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama stated.

Mr. Bentley did not attend. Gov. Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, appeared to be the only other governor to attend. He was scheduled to give a prayer later in the afternoon. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida made a video statement that was to be played in the stadium.

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